Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
#91960 01/14/03 03:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
B
Bean Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
B
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
Note that this is a word post and not a political post. I learned a new word today in a headline from CBC Newsworld:

North Korea denies withdrawal from nuclear pact is brinkmanship

Now, I did guess what it meant, but looked it up on Atomica:

The practice, especially in international politics, of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather than concede.

I just thought fellow AWADers might like to comment on whether they like the word, whether they could easily guess what it meant, whether they think anyone else would've guessed it, whether we'll likely hear it too much in the future, and whether I must've lived my life in a cardboard box not to have heard the word brinkmanship by now. And if you, like me, didn't know it, help yourself to one serving of New Word, it's on me.


#91961 01/14/03 04:13 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
D
dxb Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
D
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
The OED defines this as "the art of advancing to the very brink of war etc. but not engaging in it." Much the same as Atomica. I don't know who first coined the word (MW suggests in 1956), but have been aware of and used it for many years. I think it is very expressive.


#91962 01/14/03 04:23 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
1956 sounds about right. It was quite common in the Cold War era, both as a phrase and a tactic. Perty scary as the latter; never had a problem with the former


#91963 01/14/03 04:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
B
Bean Offline OP
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
B
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
Perhaps I didn't know it because my shorter lifetime hasn't included enough wars to be on the brink of. Oh well, it's a new word just for us younger folks then.


#91964 01/14/03 04:44 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
I remember when the word was coined, but not by whom. The the Secretary of State, John Foster
Dulles had used the phrase "on the brink" and it was seized by those who wished to belittle him
and he was accused fo trying in a dangerous way to be implying that the US would use nuclear
weapons.


#91965 01/14/03 04:53 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
And it was Dean Rusk who said during the Cuban Missile Crisis, "We were eyeball to eyeball, and the other guy just brinked."



TEd
#91966 01/14/03 06:21 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
B
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
B
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
Thanks for the new word, young Bean!


#91967 01/14/03 06:24 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
FWIW, you also hear "brinksmanship."


#91968 01/14/03 07:13 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
brinksmanship

Rings truer to my ear.
Sure there shouldn't be an apostrophe in there?

#91969 01/14/03 07:52 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear Faldage: "Brinksmanship" is the art of robbing armored cars.


Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,550
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 166 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,696
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,928
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5